Rear view mirror for trucks



July 14, 1936. H E JONES 2,047,325

REAR VIEW MIRROR FOR TRUCKS Filed July 27, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet l Inventor July 14, 1936. H. E. JONES REAR VIEW MIRROR FoR TRUCKS Filed July 2'?, 1935 2 Sheets-Sheet 2 NWN.

Attorney Patented July 14, 1936 n UNITED STATES PATENT oFFlcE 1 Claim.

This invention relates to rear View mirrors particularly constructed for automobile trucks.

Due to the peculiar conditions in truck constructions, rear view mirrors designed to operate eiliciently therewith must of necessity have relatively long arms so as to project laterally from the cab to permit the operator to obtain rear vision. At the same time the mirror must be positioned within easy reach of the driver of the truck so that it may be manipulated and adjusted. In the design of rear view mirrors for trucks it must also be borne in mind that there is considerable more vibrating and jolting when attached to an automobile truck than is experienced in a passenger automobile.

It is one of the prime objects of the present invention to construct a rear view mirror for application to the cab of a truck, which may be swung to inoperative position out of the Way of the driver when he enters or leaves the cab and to further provide for a very rigid connection in the extended position which connection is rupturable in event the mirror is struck by objects projecting into the roadway such as limbs of trees or the like and which connection is easily fractured without doing any injury to the parts of the support.

Further objects of the invention are Ato provide a rear view mirror of the character referred to that is strong, compact and durable, thoroughly reliable for its intended purpose, having very few parts that need repair, and comparatively inexpensive to` manufacture and install in the cab of an automobile truck.

With the foregoing and other objects in View', the invention consists of a novel construction, combination and arrangement of parts as will be hereinafter more specifically described and illustrated in the accompanying drawings where-I in is disclosed an embodiment of the invention,

illustrating an adaptation therewith of the rear View mirror structure in accordance with the present invention. l y

Figure 2 is a fragmentary side elevation of the forward left hand corner of the cab of an autoythe preferred embodiment of the invention, A indicates generally the supporting bracket formed of an angle iron of suitable length. This bracket A is formed with a vertical flange 6 and a, horizontal ange l. The vertical ange 6 is shorter in length than the vertical flange 'I and the 15 horizontal flange has openings 8 at each end by which the bracket A is secured to the front of the cab B by means of the bolts 9 extending through the openings t. The bracket A is positloned horizontally across the front of the cab lB above the windshield Ill'. The end of the vertical leg t terminates flush with the corner of the cab B.

Since the horizontal ange 'l is of greater length than the vertical ange t, the extending portion I projects laterally of the cab and this forms one of the tongues or ears to which the swinging mirror arm to be presently described is pivoted. The other tongue or ear II consists of a flat metal bar formed with a right angled integral extension l2 on its inner end which is riveted or bolted as at I3 to an intermediate portion of the horizontal iiange l. The right angled extension I2 forms the construction which spaces the projecting tongue or ear II with respect to the tongue It. At the outer ends the spaced tongues or ears I0 and II are formed with registering pivot openings I4, I5 and spaced inwardly from the pivot openings the tongues are respectively formed with spaced registering openings I6, II'I.

The swinging mirror supporting arm is indicated at C and is formed of an inner section I8 and an outer section I9. In the outer end of section I8 it is formed with a socket 20 in which slides the inner end 2l of the section I9. 'Ihe outer section I9 may be secured in any desired adjusted position by means of the set screw 22 carried by a collar 23 on the end oi section I8.

At a certain distance from the inner end section IB is provided with a pivot opening 24 which registers with the openings I4 and I5 in the respective tongues II, I-II and the arm C swings on the bolt 25 extending through the openings. Inwardly from the pivot opening 24 the end of section II is provided with a. series o! spaced openings 2i, which when the arm C is in the extended relation register with the respective series of openings II, I1 on the tongues Ii, I0. When the arm C is in extended position a rupturable or fracturable pin, preferably formed of wood such as a match stick 21 may be inserted in any one oi' the spaced registering openings as is clearly shown in Figure 4 oi' the drawings. It will be seen that if the matchstick 21 is inserted through one oi.' the series oi' registering openings farthest away from the pivot bolt 25 that it will be fractured the easiest should the arm C strike the bow oi a tree extending into the roadway, and likewise it will offer the greatest resistance to'iracture when inserted through the registering openings next to the pivot bolt 24. The position of the match stick 21 may therefore be selectively positioned as the exigencies of the road with respect to potential obstacles demand. To the outer end of the swinging arm section i9 is pivoted as at 28 the rear view mirror 29. It will be seen that the swinging mirror arm C in the extended position assumes a horizontal position projecting laterally of the automobile truck cab B and the outer section I9 thereof may be adjusted outwardly by the driver of the automobile within the limits provided for by moving the inner end 2i in or out of the socket 20 in section iB. When not in use, the swinging arm may be moved rearwardly after extracting the match stick 21 to the position shown in Figures 1 and 2. In the folded position, the swinging arm C is held against the side of the cab above the cab door 30. To maintain the swinging arm in the folded position, a coil spring 3l is secured to an eye 32 on the side.of the cab and on the outer end of the coil spring is a hook aangaan 33 which engages over the rear ot the rear view mirror 2l. When the swinging arm C is extended, the hook 33 may be inserted in a second eye 34 on the side o! the cab to prevent the spring from dangling loosely over the door Il..

By constructing the rear view mirror support as heretofore described it will be seen that the arm C when in the extended position is held sc curely in position first by the pivot bolt 24 and by the vsecond connection which is the match stem 21 thereby obviating the necessity of spring joints or folding joints that often rattle and cause considerable noise. Furthermore, by having the inner end o! section Il between the tongues l0, i l, these tongues embrace the inner end of the arm and provide additional vertical support.

Having described my invention, what I claim as new is:

A rear vision mirror supporting structure comprising a support'bracket adapted to be attached to the cab oi.' an automobile truck, said bracket including an angle shaped member having one end shorter than the other to provide one tongue, and a bar having an inset portion attached to the flange oi which the said one tongue is a continuation to provide the second tongue spaced from the first mentioned tongue, an extensible arm pivoted adjacent one end between the ends of the spaced tongues, said extensible arm and said tongues formed with spaced apertures, a wooden pin selectively insertable in any one of the registrable openings in the tongues and arm whereby the arm may swing en its pivot when the wooden pin is ruptured when the arm is struck by an object, and a rear view mirror swingably connected to the end of the extensible arm.

HERBERT E. JONES. 

